jimmyraj

The Victoria Inn now has a licence application on display to change the kids playroom into a function room. It was nice for a few months when it opened but agree with Jeremy that it's been a dirty mess of broken bits of plastic for some time. The whole pub has massively gone downhill since Greene King took over - dirty windows which haven't been cleaned for months; badly painted outside tables; peeling paint and graffiti outside; ripped seats and rubbish service inside. Shame really as it's such a great location - but it's really a pretty rubbish pub now.

I know of some weddings that have used space in the Bussey. I'm sure there was one on the roof at some point; and I'm sure somewhere like The Nines might be approachable.

Yes, we take ours with us if we're hiring cars at the other end. Most airlines will take them free of charge

> > .. People are not going to an outdoor pool in the > Rain . Winter. Heated or not. and wont be going > every day. > Serious swimmers will go to the baths on Crystal > Palace rd. > That's just not true. Have you been to a heated outdoor pool in the rain or snow. It's a glorious experience - genuinely. Why do you think so many Alpine spas have outdoor pools. I would stake that it would be very popular.

> > How many of the 'I would deffo use it ' brigade > currently use the pool at Brockwell Park and how > often.. > > Let us get realistic about this project.. > > DulwichFox I think you'd be surprised. If it was heated, it would be a huge point of difference to Brockwell which is not. London Fields lido (as a useful comparison) is pretty busy all year round thanks to it being heated. Both Dulwich and Peckham Pulse pools are massively oversubscribed, and very often too busy to do any serious swimming in during lane sessions. I think an open air heated lido would be in demand throughout the year. Like it or not (cue discussion on gentrification) I think the changes to the surrounding area since the original lido was filled in make quite a significant difference. It might be a long shot, but there's plenty of evidence to suggest that ideas like this can genuinely get off the ground. I'd much rather support something like this - open to everyone in the community - than something like a pointless garden bridge across the Thames.

I actually don't think the one next to North Dulwich station is that unreasonable - and as you say they do have very nice pots and planters, so if that's what you need then worth a look. Shannons in Forest Hill off the South Circular has a bigger range and is slightly cheaper admittedly. There's also a new garden centre which looks to have a decent range of bedding and other plants opposite Nunhead station under the first arch.

The growth in demand for travel from Peckham Rye has been huge over the last five or so years. Partly a result of the arrival of the London Overground, which has offset some of the increased demand - but I think more as a result of many more people choosing it as a station to commute from than previously. Either people travelling by other means; or just to the growth in incomers to Peckham. The station itself can't cope at all. Most mornings now there is congestion getting into and out of the station and through the barriers in peak hours. Also in peak hours the situation on platforms three and four - where there are no station staff supervising at all, ever (presumably because they serve Thameslink and SE Trains and it's a Southern Trains run station - is verging on very dangerous, with overcrowded narrow platforms. I hope the SE and Thameslink services will improve and get back to nearer to timetabled time when the London Bridge works are finished, but I suspect they probably won't. Hopefully again the move to bring in the suburban operators to TFL will have a positive effect on the number of trains serving the station - as there needs to be a greater increase in frequency of services to match the growth in demand. Would also be good if, as well as all of the squabbling and delays over the square (or no square) in front of the station; some thought could be put into how to make the station itself function better as a station. New restaurants are great but they don't help people get to work. There's surely a case for creating a new entrance from Blenheim Grove or through the arches - especially to alleviate congestion on platforms three and four.

All the ex Capital Pub Co pubs have gone massively downhill in the last year or two since being taken over by Greene King. The Actress is a bit of a hole now; the Bishop had a mind bogglingly rubbish refurb ruining what atmosphere it ever had with weird MOR check upholstery (bad chain pub fayre); the Victoria Inn has gone massively downhill with terrible service and dirty interior and exterior in need of a full refurb; ditto the Rye, which is now just a football watching spot. Looks like the owners intent on running them into the ground with minimum investment. There's superior competition from the others (EDT, Lordship, Exhibition, Cherry Tree, Montpelier, White Horse, Gowlett) IMO.

Zippos only takes over a small portion of the Rye. I'm against more and more big corporate festivals in places like the Rye. It's a shame to see huge portions of Clapham Common portioned off each summer, and also Battersea for the Formula E or Hyde Park for Winter Wonderland. As others have said, parks are a vital green lung for Londoners - many of whom don't have green spaces of their own - and should be predominantly free and open to all.

My son is in reception at The Belham. We've been really impressed with the school. I was part of the group of parents who originally supported the school's application to the DfE and I'm pleased that it has delivered on the promise. Of course there are a few limitations from being on the temporary site (though I think the new site will be very much worth the wait) but the teaching and teachers have been excellent. Parental involvement has been encouraged from the off, and it has a very creative curriculum, though my son has also come on leaps and bounds in reading, writing etc and has a very good circle of friends. Very happy if you would like to PM me.

Got to agree with some of these in that Black Cab drivers have not helped themselves. Of course there are many good cabbies, but I've lost count of the times that I hail a black cab only to have them laugh when I ask to go to Peckham, despite the fact it's only four or five miles from the centre of town, and they're acting in contravention of their own regulations. They're rarely polite and rarely go the quickest way, again in my experience. In Uber's favour is the fact that they will at least go south of the river without a fuss - in that sense they do, unlike black cabbies, give the customer what they want. Against them is their complete lack of driver training. All they do is follow the nav regardless of where it takes them. They won't take shortcuts and you inevitably get stuck in traffic jams which means you pay more.

I've been going to BMF on and off for over three years. I've always kept fit, but as the OP has said you get out what you put in. Whatever ability you are, you can get pushed to your limit at the sessions. There's enough cardio work to keep your heart rate up but plenty of resistance based exercising (press ups, pull ups etc etc). You'd be surprised how much you can work without weights. If you want to maintain a generally high level of fitness and tone up (it does help that) then BMF is a great way of doing it. I combine it with running and other things and it works well for me. It's not the solution to get 'big'. If you're looking to bulk up, then the gym and protein shake route is probably better.

I drove through there a few times at the weekend and the first I knew was a sign saying 'road closed ahead' but it was a temporary roadworks sort of sign and there was no notice saying that fine enforcement would be in place. If I get a fine I'll dispute it on that basis. I'm very much for more pedestrianised areas, but for reasons others have already stated this one is extremely ill thought out IMO. The Camberwell New Road route from ED / Peckham in towards Vauxhall is absolute chaos - it can take 45 minutes just to get from Camberwell Green to Vauxhall at the moment and given they've reduced lane capacity around the Vauxhall area permanently I think it will be like that indefinitely. This gets rid of an alternative 'through the middle' route via Red Post Hill / Loughborough / Brixton Road. The alternative therefore is going to be to drive traffic via Brixton either via Coldharbour Lane / Gresham or Atlantic or via Herne Hill - all routes that are very congested. We absolutely should be looking at more provision for cyclists but a sensible approach would be to consider that people will not be able to switch immediately to other forms of transport. I for one would love to take the bus to work (Peckham to Vauxhall Bridge Road) but the state of the traffic on these main arterial routes makes that impossible. I gave up cycling the route because I witnessed two different incidents involving people under articulated tipper trucks (one of which was a fatality). Personally I think keeping a vital artery open to relieve pressure on the other routes is the best of a bad situation at the current time.

Sorry, disagree with the above. I've found the coffee at Brick House to be really good, and I like my coffee. For a triple shot black americano I think it's the best in the Lordship Lane area. Only General Store's Workshop coffee edges it nearby. And I love the Bostock. Consistency is spot on. Almondy and sweet!

I've had mixed experiences with Kwik Fit in the past but can't fault the guys at Grove Vale. Popped in the other day when I couldn't get the cap off my valve and the tyre pressure light was on. They replaced the valve for free - tried to pay them but they wouldn't have it. Can't ask fairer than that

Agreed. He's always very helpful and friendly. Great shop to have locally - nothing too much trouble

I've got no beef with people doing their own fireworks, but as others have pointed out - random fireworks going off after hours is just annoying. Saturday night around Choumert / Copleston Road was a joke - someone was letting off really loud rocket / bangers (all just noise, no visuals) from 11pm to late. If you're trying just to sleep it's just a pain in the neck

The problems of the Draft House and Black Cherry - ie. low front section, up then down again (lack of atmosphere) show it's probably worth them getting it right. Probably a ?150k job, but worth it in the end if they get a decent space to serve people in. Good luck to them - look forward to trying it.

Agree there's a lot of terrible drivers who can't successfully negotiate busy roads and tight corners, I avoid Adys at all costs during rush hour because it's jammed with people who try and queue closely behind the car in front rather than see the traffic coming the other way. Saw a coach getting stuck up Maxted earlier in the week. Almost comical. Definitely deserving of 'no coaches' signage, probably at the bottom of Lyndhurst.

If you really need to drive to Lordship Lane, there are always spaces on surrounding roads, even in peak time on a Saturday. Absolutely no need to build a car park.

@hpsaucey - we're near Copleston Road / Choumert Road and it's particularly noisy - mainly because it seems to be on the curve of where they bank into the Heathrow approach from the south and often seems to be when they're putting down the flaps to slow, so I assume that generates some of the extra noise over this area.

They've just resurfaced the pavements on Choumert Road but not the road, which was in a far worse condition than the pavements. Obviously could only afford the former.

It looks nice inside. Look forward to trying it out - they've made good use of the space and hope it'll be another good addition to Bellenden Road

There was some nice stuff in there but prices were sky high. If you shop carefully in auctions you can pick up the Ercol / G Plan stuff at a lot cheaper prices.

Yes, to be fair she has a replacement as councillor for The Lane lined up. That said, The Lane councillors could be a lot more visible / proactive. There's some big issues now affecting that ward (Peckham Rye station being one of the biggest) and there's not exactly a lot of noise from the local councillors as far as I can see.